Gordon proving nice guys finish games

07/20/2006
We've all heard it said often that a baseball team is like a family. Players, coaches and the manager spend as much or more time with each other as they do around their wives and children. That's why it's so important to develop solid relationships in the clubhouse. In his 20-year career, Tom Gordon has been around long enough to know all about both baseball and strong families.
The Phillies closer grew up in the small town of Avon Park, Fla., and his mother and father made sure he learned a value system that would stay with him as an adult.
"Everybody knew each other, really got along together, went to church together and prayed together," Gordon said. "Everybody looked out for each other. We were brought up to recognize all the things that are important to a family."
Because the Gordons didn't have enough money to buy a house, they rented a place with no air conditioning. Despite their limited income, his parents opened their home to two cousins.
Gordon, 38, puts what he learned as a youngster about families staying close into practice as a Major League player.
"It's very important because we are together for so many days," Gordon said. "If we don't become family, we don't play well together. We don't understand each other's lives and what's important to us. It's important for me to know whom I'm around every day, to gain their respect and learn to respect them. If you don't build those relationships and take the time to find out about the guy next to you in the clubhouse, it will definitely be a long season."
Gordon is a quiet presence in the Phillies clubhouse. He commands his teammates' respect with a resume that includes postseason experience with both the Red Sox and Yankees. The playoffs are still a plateau this group of Phillies is still trying to reach.
"He's great, he's kind of a quieter guy," left fielder Pat Burrell said. "He goes about his business but he's always there if you need anything. If you have questions, he's there to answer them. He's been around so long, he's a great leader to have on your team because of what he does on the field and what he brings to the clubhouse."
Phillies reliever Aaron Fultz looks at Gordon as a steady influence in the clubhouse and on the mound.
"You see the way he goes about his business," Fultz said. "He's serious. He doesn't take anything for granted and he works hard. I can talk to Flash and ask him some things, but I really learn more just by watching him go about his business. That's what is so important about Flash. He goes out there and when the bell rings, you know he's going to be there."
As a young man, Gordon had a favorite teacher he could count on. Grace Brown had Gordon as a student for three years as they both made the transition from middle school to high school.
"It seemed like every year I moved up, she went to the next grade along with me," recalled Gordon. "We had the best relationship as student and teacher. She was really a motivator and she helped every one of her kids to be successful."
His teacher remembers Tom as a good kid from a warm and cordial family. Ms. Brown, as Tom still calls her, must also have had a good eye for talent, because she saved some of his schoolwork, thinking that he might actually make good on his promise to one day be a Major League player.
It's no surprise that the teacher says of her former student, "He got along well with everyone."
Gordon says what set Brown apart from his other teachers was the way she motivated her students.
"She not only taught her kids, she looked after them as well."
That might have been the most important lesson Gordon learned from his teacher, because as an adult, he still goes out of his way to look after Brown. When her husband passed away in 1997, Gordon not only flew back home for the funeral, he also provided Brown with what she calls a sizeable check to cover all of her expenses and more.
"Family means everything to him," said Brown.
That goes for his extended family as well. He still buys equipment for the school's baseball team. And every once in a while, Brown says he surprises her and his old baseball coach by flying them to a road game so they can watch him pitch.
It's important for family members to count on each other, and the Phillies know they can count on Gordon in the ninth inning.
He has answered any questions about his age by remaining one of the game's premier closers. Phillies fans know they've put one in the win column when Gordon points his index finger skyward after recording the final out. For a man whose nickname is Flash, ironically there is very little flashy about his game. But for this one moment, a deeply religious man takes the liberty of making a very public display of his faith. It's his way of thanking God for all of his blessings, on the field and off.
"I'm just so grateful because of all I have been able to overcome," Gordon said. "First, I was told I would never be drafted. Later, I was told I would never make it back from Tommy John surgery. I heard so many negative things that I got to the point where I needed something more. I always knew God was there for me, but I didn't know why I was being tested. My belief in God has given me those answers."
Some of his questions about life are still answered only by his faith. Like why people are afflicted with fatal diseases like ALS. Doing his part, as always, Gordon has found a way to help, by lending his name to SAVES4ALS, a program that donates money for the fight against Lou Gehrig's disease by pledging money for every one of his saves.
"It makes you understand that they need us and we need them," Gordon said. "Charity is a sign of a wonderful heart, to find someone who is not worried about themselves, but instead concerned with finding a cause and a cure so no one has to go through a disease like ALS. Me being healthy, I'm humbled by my ability to play the game of baseball."
Gordon also has an appreciation for the extended family of baseball. He talks of those who have paved the way for him, like Jackie Robinson and Tug McGraw, the former Phillies closer whose No. 45 he proudly wears.
"Guys like Tug McGraw have inspired me," Gordon said. "I pay tribute to Tug's plaque in Ashburn Alley. I think it's great that the Phillies have put it there to represent a guy who strived to be one of the best closers in the game. Although I never got a chance to meet Tug, he is a guy who loved the game and helped develop the closer's role in baseball. So there are no greater role models for me than guys like that."
Gordon's setup man Arthur Rhodes says he and Flash keep a close eye on the clubhouse.
"We sit back and just watch," Rhodes said. "Because you can't come over to a new team and just try and be a leader. But Flash leads by example. He does his own thing. We're lucky to have a veteran bullpen. Me as a left-handed setup guy, and Flash as a right-handed closer."
When all is said and done, there is only one place that Gordon doesn't feel confident closing things out. An avid fisherman, Flash knows there is always the big one that gets away. A quiet lake is the one place he can concentrate on his bait -- instead of a game -- on the line.
"When I get a chance to go fishing, I can be free to just think about the things that are important," Gordon said. "If I catch one fish or 50 fish, I still have a great day."
And, on the mound, if things are going well for this good man, he won't let a slugger like Albert Pujols off the hook either.
"You want to stay on him and keep the line tight."
So while Tom Gordon has the confidence and self-assurance of a man who would never go fishing for a compliment, we'll give him one anyway. Nice guys don't finish last -- they finish games.

Source: http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/